Vending-machine.



No. 855,231. A PATENTE) MAY 2a, 1907.

VENDING- MACHINE. APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 12, 1906.

im m 'i JAMES P. CONROY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

n VENDlNG-NIACHINE.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.'

Patented May 28, 1907.

Application filed September 12,1906. Serial No. 334,268.

.To @ZZ whom, t may concern;

Be it known that I, JAMES P. CoNRoY, a subject o f the King of Great Britain, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State oi' Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending- Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in`vending machines, particularlyT designed for dispensing spools of thread in stores.

rPhe invention has for its object to provide a machine wherein positive and reliable means are employed for delivering a spool of thread from the machine, said means being controlled by a coin deposited within the machine.

Certain novel devices or attachments are employed for preventing spools of thread from being fraudulently obtained, while well protected mechanism is employed to insure a positive operation of the machine when manipulated.

The detail construction of the vending machine will behereinafter more fully described and then specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing forming part of this specification, like numerals ofreference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the vending machine, Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of a portion of the magazine of the machine, Fig. 3 is a plan of the machine, the cover and magazine thereof being removed, Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional View of the' machine, and F 5 is a fragmentary plan of the machine, illustrating the coin carrying plunger in position to release a coin.

To put my invention into practice, I construct my improvement of an oblong casing consisting 'of side walls 1, end walls 2 and 3, and cover plates 4, 5 and 6. The lower edges of the side walls 1 intermediate their ends are cut away as at 7, whereby easy access inay be had to spools of thread dispensed by the machine. Between the forward ends of the side walls 1 is slidably mounted a coin receptacle or drawer S having a conventional form of lock 9, which in conjunction with the end wall 3 is adapted to retain the receptacle or drawer t within the machine.

Between the side walls 1 is mounted a horizontal partition having an opening 11 formed therein and having its forward end slotted, as at 12. Upon the rear end of the partition 10 is mounted a rectangular casing 14, both ends of said casing being open and one end protruding over the opening 11 of the partition 10. The top of the casing 14 is provided with an opening 15 adapted to register with a vertically disposed magazine 16 carried by the cover plate 4. The one side of the magazine 16 is provided with a transparent plate 17, while the upper end of the magazine has a hinged lid 13 normally closed by a conventional form of lock 19. The magazine is adapted to contain a plurality of spools of thread placed one upon the other in a vertically disposed position within the magazine.

In the casing 14 is slidably mounted a frame 20, said frame having an opening 21 formed therein whereby the spools contained within the magazine 16 can descend by gravity and rest upon the partition 10. The frame is made of sufficient depth to accommodate one of the largest sized spools adapted to be vended by my improved machine.

The rear end of the frame 2O is connected by a coil spring 22 to the rear end ofthe partition 10, while the forward end of the frame 2O is connected by a cable 23 to a coin carrying plunger 24. The coin carrying plunger 24 comprises a U-shaped member having arms 25, the confronting faces of which are recessed as at 26. Pivotally connected to the outer ends of the arms 25 are beveled blocks 27, which in their normal position, and in conjunction with the recesses 26, form diametrically opposed tapering slots to receive a coin 28 deposited in the machine.

The coin carrying plunger is slidably mounted between two guides 29 and is limited in its rearward movement by a block 30 carried by the partition 10. The guides 29 slidably support an actuating plunger 31, said plunger being provided with a transverse slot 32 adapted to register with a similar slot 33 formed'in the cover plate 6 whereby a coin may be admitted to the coin carrying plunger 24. The actuating plunger 31 is provided with a depending lug 34 which is connected by a coil spring 35 to the block 30, the connection of said spring with said block being formed by an eyelet 3 6 which serves functionally as a guide for the cable 23. The lower edge of the lug 34 is beveled, as at 37,

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and secured to the bottom of the partition 10 and extendingV upwardly within the slot 12 thereof is a spring 38, said spring normally lying in the path of the lug 34.

The forward end of the actuating plunger is provided with a hook-shaped handle 39, which protrudes through an opening 40 formed in the wall 3 of the machine, said hook-shaped handle being employed to actuate the plungers 31 and 24 when a coin is deposited in the machine. l

Operation. The position a spool of thread. assumes within the machine is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawing, and to remove a spool i from the machine, the frame 2O is moved forward to deposit the spool through the opening 11 of the partition 10; the spool magazine being normally closed during the movement of the frame 2O by the top thereof. To accomplish a movement of the frame 20 it is necessary that a coin be deposited in the slot 33 of the machine. The coin is adapted to rest in the recesses 26 of the coin carrying plunger and form a bearing for-the lug 34, which is moved forward by pulling outwardly upon the actuating` plunger 31. As the coin carrying plunger 24 is moved forward through the medium of the coin 28 and the lug 34, the frame 20 is carried forward through the medium of the cable 23. As the coin carrying plunger moves in the guides 29, the beveled blocks 27 will be released at the ends of said guide and will swing outwardly, as shown in Fig. 5, releasing the coin 28 and allowing the same to fall forward into the receptacle or drawer 8. Immediately upon the actuating plunger 31 being released, the coil spring 35 returns said plunger to its normal position and the coil spring 22 returns the frame 20 to a position to receive another spool of thread, which immediately descends into the frame 2O upon the opening 21 thereof registering with slotted end of said partition,

the opening 15 and the magazine 16.

The spring 38 carried by the partition 10 is adapted to prevent spools of thread from being fraudulently obtained from the machine, said spring preventing a rearward movement of the coin 28 and consequently the plungers 24 and 31, after the coin has been moved past the end of the spring 38.y The spring recedes as the plungers 24 and 31 assume their normal position.

The mechanism of the vending machine just described may constitute a portion of a machine from which spools of thread of various sizes and qualitymay be dispensed, such a machine being practically the same as if a plurality of single magazine machines were arranged in a row.

It is obvious that the magazines of my im.- proved machines may be made of various sizes and that the machines can be constructed to present a neat and attractive appearance, whereby they will not detract from the general appearance of a store in which they are used. Y

What I claimand desire to secure by Letter Patent, is

In a vending machine, an oblong casing open underneath, a horizontal partition within said casing having a slotted forward end,

ing, an open ended rectangular casing mounted on said horizontal partition and having an opening in its top, a magazine mounted in the top of said oblong casing and registering with the opening in the top of said rectangular casing, a frame slidably mounted in said rectangular casing having an openingin its body, registering with the opening in the top of the rectangular casing and with the magazine, a spring connected to the rear end of said casing and to the partition, guides carried by said partition at the sides of the slot therein, mounted in said guides, a cable connecting said plunger with the said frame, a slidable actuating plunger for operating said spring held plunger, and a removable receptacle mounted in the oblong casing beneath the substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afHX my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES PCONROY.

Witnesses:

MAX H. SnoLovrTz, A. J. TRIGG.

and provided between its ends with an open-Y a springheld plunger slidablyA 

